Rochdale Cobras 40 - 6 Culcheth Eagles

Rochdale Cobras 40 Culcheth Eagles 6

Rochdale Cobras beat Culcheth Eagles at fortress Firgrove on Saturday to further stake their claim as division favourites

Cobras were without centre Cameron Cowin who picked up a knock last weekend at Manchester Rangers. Andy Reid, a strong and hard hitting forward, made his debut and first run outs of the season for Zach Webster, Tom Haddley, Tom Lawlor and Stevie Mason.

Cobras did not waste any time scoring within two minutes; James Mills bursting through the Culcheth defence to go 60 metres and score. Ieuan Higgs added the extras.

Culcheth hit back and gained good territory off of the back of Cobra's poor discipline and silly errors but Cobra's defence managed to to keep Culcheth at bay.

Cobras  began to take control of the game with West and Mills made big metres and Sweeney close to touching down before four Culcheth defenders managed to drag him into touch.

Cobras looked to have scored after Webster went over but the referee judged the final pass to have gone forward.

A mix up in the Cobras defence gave Culcheth a one-on-one chance but full back Liam Hughes made the save. Culcheth could not build on the break and knocked on when five metres from the Cobras line.

Cobras scored four tries in eighteen minutes.

A barnstorming run from Tom Morris saw Cobras increase their lead, although Higgs couldn't add the two.

West chipped over the top and Higgs won the challenge with the full back and scored under the posts. The conversion successful.

Sweeney took two men with him before unselfishly passing the ball to Hughes on his inside to round off a wonderful move. Higgs sloted over the conversion.

The final score off the half saw a great offload from Higgs send Zach Webster through a gap and he sprinted the length of the field to score. Higgs added to his tally with the kick.

Rochdale Cobras 28 - 0 Culcheth Eagles

The second half got under way with both sides struggling to complete sets. Handling errors whilst in good field position left Cobras becoming increasingly frustrated.

Cobras lack of concentration allowed Culcheth to cross for their first score of  the game. The extras were added.

Big running from Lynch, Reid, Morris and Lawlor got Cobras into great field position.

Culcheth looked to be tiring and their defensive discipline was slipping and back-to-back penalties for high shots put Cobras in control.

A break in the Culcheth defence allowed Higgs to skip through and cross the line for his second of the game - he converted the try.

Dylan O'Shea popped the ball to Mills who fended off two Culcheth defenders to cross the line for the final try of the game. Higgs kicked the extras.

Cobras team: Hughes, Webster, Haddley, Sweeney, Josh Supyk, West,  Higgs, Lynch, O'Shea, Mills, Jamie Supyk,  Lawlor, Ramsbottom.
Interchanges: Morris, Lightfoot, Reid, Nutley, Mason, Agg.